4
MIXED MEDIUM
AUGUST 25–SEPTEMBER 1, 2021
THE ARTS AROUND
EASTERN OREGON
‘Refining Our Writing Voice Through Poetry’
Online workshop starts Sept. 8
By Lisa Britton
Go! Magazine
E
NTERPRISE — Oregon Book
Award finalist Nick Jaina will
lead a four-session workshop
on “Refining Our Writing Voice
Through Poetry” beginning
Wednesday, Sept. 8.
The workshop is organized
by Fishtrap, the Wallowa County
organization that “promotes clear
thinking and good writing in and
about the West.”
Jaina’s workshop launches
Fishtrap’s 2021-2022 season.
The course will be online and
meet from 6-7:30 p.m. Sept. 8,
15, 22 and 29.
Registration is $180, or $162
for Fishtrappers (membership
starts at $5 per month, and in-
cludes a 10% discount on work-
shop and program registrations).
Space is limited to 13. Register
online at www.fishtrap.org/poet-
ry-workshop-with-nick-jaina/.
In this workshop, participants
will “work on developing a poetic
heart to improve our writing, no
matter what genre it might be.”
Here is the course description:
“One of the core components of
writing is developing a distinctive
voice. We can look at poetry not
just as a genre of writing, but as a
way of viewing the world, and we
can learn to use our heart to find
connections between disparate
things. Some of the best writers
are ones who have this funda-
mental poetic voice and weave it
into a narrative, such as Margaret
Atwood and James Baldwin.”
Jaina is an author, musician,
writing teacher and editor. His
2015 memoir “Get It While You
Can” was a finalist for the Oregon
Book Award. He lives in Oak-
land, California, with his wife and
stepson. Learn more about him at
www.NickJaina.com.
ecutive Director Shannon McNer-
ney. Winter Fishtrap in January
and The Big Read will likely be
virtual, as well.
“We already decided to do big
chunks of that virtually,” she said.
Depending on circumstances,
some in-person events could be
added.
Fishtrap Fireside, a monthly
event where Wallowa County
writers have a chance to share
their work, will also be virtual. The
monthly sessions are held the
first Friday of each month from
October through April.
Decisions about summer
2022 events will be made at a
later date.
“Our goal is Summer Fishtrap
is not virtual,” McNerney said.
Find updates online at www.
fishtrap.org or on Facebook.
FUTURE PROGRAMS
A HISTORY OF FISHTRAP
Although Fishtrap held several
in-person events this summer,
the organization decided to move
fall events entirely online, said Ex-
According to a history de-
scribed on the Fishtrap website,
the organization’s roots date to
the mid-1980s when Wallowa
POETRY
WORKSHOP
A virtual workshop, led by
Nick Jaina, will meet Sept. 8,
15, 22, and 29. Sessions are
6-7:30 p.m. Register online
at www.fishtrap.org.
www.fishtrap.org
Nick Jaina will lead a virtual po-
etry workshop in September
through Fishtrap.
County bookstore owner Rich
Wandschneider attended a
Western writers conference in
Portland. During that gathering,
Wandschneider told conference
organizer Kim Stafford that it
seemed the event wasn’t really
a gathering of writers of the
West, but of Willamette Valley
“I-5 writers.” Stafford agreed,
then issued a challenge: “Why
don’t you host the next one
in Wallowa County?” In 1988,
Wandschneider, Stafford, and
the award-winning journalist
and historian Alvin Josephy
organized a gathering at Wal-
lowa Lake with the theme “West
Coast Writers and East Coast
Publishers.”
Summer Fishtrap was born.
Every July since has brought
readers, writers, journalists,
historians, publishers, and lov-
ers of the arts from all over the
world to Wallowa Lake.
Over the years Fishtrap grew
to add new programs, including
Winter Fishtrap, The Big Read,
and the Outpost wilderness
writing program. More recently,
Fishtrap has expanded to in-
clude youth programming, the
Fishtrap Fireside reading series,
and several in-person and on-
line workshops throughout the
year. To learn more, visit www.
fishtrap.org.